Body lifter



M. E. OVERSTREET BODY LIFTER il ed Nov. 6, 1924 Dec. 14 1926.

Patented Dec. '14, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT o Fries.

BODY LIFTER.

Application filed November The primary object of this invention is to providea body lifter, by means of which a human body or :the like, in a recumbent position, may be liftedand carried from one place to another, without the necessity of an attendant having to touch the body.

The present application is a continuation in part ofmy application Serial No. 698,460, filed March 11,1924.

lVith this and other equally important objects in View, as will be hereinafter more fully pointedout, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and wherein like nu merals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, in which Fig. 1 is a. top plan view of one form of the invention, with a body outlined with dotted lines,

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a second form, with the positions to which the side bars move shown in dotted lines,

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, with one of the connecting straps .moved up to the straight portions of the side bars,

Fig. i is a-diagrammatical cross sectional view of the device with a 'full line showing of the invention relative to a body covered with a sheet prior to being lifted, and :a dotted line showing of the same in lifted and carrying positions,

Fig. 5 is a View in side -'elevation of the offset handle end-of one of the bars,

Fig.*Gisa'transverse sectional View taken on line 6- 6 of Fig. '3, and

Fig.7 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 77 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, reference numerals 2 and 3 designate 'bars or the like-of metal tubing or of solid wood,which are placed a distance-apart and connected with the bars closer "together at their foot ends by means of flexible straps 5 and 6, grip handles 4 being provided at the ends of the "bars andbeing formed preferably-of a yielding material such as rubber and withithe surface conforming to "the contour of the hands.

'The strap 5 is formed with a loop 17' at one of *its endsand this slidably receives the foot 'end 'of "the bar '2, and at its opposite end, the strap 5 has a hook 8, which engages around the foot end o'f'the other bar 3 in a detachable and sliding manner. The strap "6 isgsimilarly provided with a loop 7 and 6, 1924. *Serial'No. 748,243.

upon each other, the straps will be '00- incident and the endsof the bars not having the straps v5 or 6 may Ithen be inserted into the narrow pocket of a carrying ibag, not shown. If both straps were carried by the same bar, then oneofthe straps would have to be moved adjacent the other :before the bars could be inserted into the :pocket of the carrying bag.

The bars 2 and 3 are spaced apart a distance less than the width of a body to be lifted so that the bars wi'll come back of the outside of the hip bones and back of and outsideof the shoulder blades, and the convergence ofthe bars takes careof-thedilference in width of the human body at these points. The body lifted restsalmost entirefor the necessity of having to support the feet and head, the body would not rest at all upon the-connecting straps 5 and6, and the latter would only function to '-hold the bars in proper spaced relation.

While in most cases,'the arms of the body would not become displaced while the body is being lifted and carried, it is desirable in certain instances to extend acentral strap 9 from bar to bar and across the middle sec tion of the body and over the arms. This strap 9 may be attached, preferably detachably, to the side bars 2 and 3 by means of hooks 10, similar to those 8 aforementioned.

If desired, the strap 9 anay he an exactduplicate of the other straps, including the means of attachment. As 'a substitute for the strap 9, a sheet 12 or the like which is thrown over the body may be employed in a manner to be hereinafter pointed out.

The form illustrated in "Fig. 1 has straight bars 2 and 3 throughout, but the form illustrated in "the other views 'hasithe ends of the bars 2 and 3 offset at 14, not only to raise the handle grips sufiiciently above the surface upon which thebody may be resting, but for more important reasons, principally to cause an automatic gripping action of the bars upon the body. This gripping action will be fully described after ly upon the two side bars, and were it not and head of the body.

the action of the first, or Fig. 1 form, has been recited.

In service, each bar is placed alongside a recumbent.- body, and its strap 5 or 6 inserted beneath the feet or head respectively of the body and its hook engaged with the other of said bars, previous to which, at least one of the straps was moved along its her so as to regulate the spacing of that end of the bars when connected according to the width of the body to be lifted. It will be here mentioned that since the width ofthe skeleton of man varies in about the same proportion to the variations in height, this bringing toward each other of the straps to bring the bars closer together will not take the straps out of a position to support the feet In certain cases, both steps would have to be adjusted, but usually the adjustment of one is suillcient. Regardless of the amount of flesh on a body, its skeleton or bone frame will be found to be about the same in all men ot a given height, and the bars lit beside the hip bones and shoulder blades, the gr pping action is principally upon these parts oi? the body and upon the flesh between the bars, and it is innnaterial how nmch flesh above or beyond the side bars 2 nd 3. The device, with a body, is lifted by an atteinlant at each end grasping the handles l, and as the weightof the body comes upon the bars, the skeleton and a certain amount of the flesh of the body .vedges downwardly between the bars, so that in addition to the weight of the body being upon the bars, there is a certain amount of pinching the body by the bars, due, not only to the sel wedo'ine' action but to an extent to the natu ral resiliency of the bars themselves. If this pinching action desired to be increased, the head section may be raised first, whereupon the body will tend to slice a slight amount toward the foot or unraised end, thereby becoming wedged more conn pletely between the converging ban. By employing the strap 9, the arms may be confined in certain cases, though usually the body is gripped in such a firm manner that it can be handled perfectly without the arms becoming disturbed or requiring to be confined. In place of'the strap 9, a sheet 12 may be placed over the body, the bars placed alongside the body and upon the sheet, the straps 5 and 6 connected to the bars, and when the body is lifted, the sheet will be pinched between the bars and the body and the arms of the body perfectly confined.

l/Vith the form of the invention which employs the bent or oil-set handles, the bars are applied to the sides of a body and connected by the straps 5 and 6, in the same manner as before, and the bars 2 and 3 in the positions AA of the diagram in Fig. i, which is tile full line position of F 2.

As the weight of the body comes upon the bars, they turn in the hands of the attendants, from the i i-fl t position to the Bll position of Fig. l, which is the dotted line position in Fig, 2. Thus, since the spacing of the bars 2 and 3 in the said A ait position is greater than that in the Bl3 position of the same view, this moving together of the bars automatically under the weight of the lifted body will cause an increased and positive pinching action upon the body, and particularly upon the contined flesh and hip and shoulder bones. The strap 9 may be used with this form, the same as 1 the other form, as n'iay also the sheet 12, but here the twisting movement )f the bars 23 and 3 causes a tightening oi the strap or sheet upon the upper part of the body and its a ms, binding the same more securely to the carrying bars.

The spacing of the bars is regulated by sliding one both of the straps 5 and 6 along the bare. l' i hether one or both is n'ioved, the convergence 01"" the bars changes. With the bent or oliset form, when only one strap is moved up to the straight part of the bars, as in 3, the pinehin action is present as before, but it is great at the opposite end, and since it usua the tent end strap that is adjusted, the pinciiing will be upon the hip andshoulder bones as before.

it is not feasible to recite here all the uses and advantages of this invention, but some ot the more important ones will be stated.

ln attending the sick or the dead, with appliances now on the market, it often becomes necessary for the attendant to insert his hands and arms beneath the body, and where dangerously contagious sores are present on the back of the body, unknown to the attendant, contraction of the disease by the attendant is often the case. This contact with the body by the attendant becomes unnecessary with the present invention since the head and footstraps can be inserted beneath the neck and ankles without the flesh of the attendants hands having to touch that of the body. lVith other appliances, if the body is not lifted by being grasped by the hands of the attendant, as stated, then it is often rolled ontoa stretcher, caus ing a flexing of the body which flexing may cause pain to a patient, or purging of a dead body. The latter is explained by the fact that because of the accumulated gas within the intestines and other pockets of the body, any flexing of the body of the corpse will cause this gas to expel the fluid and other contents through the various body openings and often onto the apparel of the corpse or of the attendant, with the incident danger of contagion by the latter. After the body is upon the bars, of this invention, the wedging and gripping action lllS vention, nor while in use will the sheet or other body covering become displaced to expose the body. When a hysterical patient is to be moved, his arms may be confined by use of the strap 9 or the sheet 12, and even when neither is employed, because of his inability to effectively grasp the side bars, he is unable to raise himself to an unmanageable extent.

lVhat is claimed 1. A body lifter comprising a pair of bars of a length substantially equal to the length of a full grown average human being, and adapted to be placed alongside of a recumbent body so that the body will rest on said bars, handles arranged at the ends of said bars, and spaced cross straps connecting said bars, the space defined by said bars and said straps being constantly open to permit the body to readily sink downwardly against the bars when the latter are lifted.

2. A body lifter comprising a pair of bars of a length substantially equal to the length of a full grown average human being, and adapted to be placed alongside of a recumbent body so that the body will rest on said bars, handles arranged at the ends of said bars, and spaced cross straps connecting said bars, the space defined by said bars and said straps being constantly open to permit the body to readily sink downwardly against the bars when the latter are lifted, said straps being freely movable along said bars toward and away from each other to provide transverse supports for bodies of vari ous lengths.

3. A body lifter comprising a pair of bars of a length substantially equal to the length of a full grown average human being, and adapted to be placed alongside of a recumbent body so that the body will rest on said bars, handles arranged at the ends of said bars, and spaced cross straps connecting said bars, the space defined by said bars and said straps being constantly open to permit the body to readily sink downwardly against the bars when the latter are lifted, each strap having one of its ends detachably connected to one of the bars whereby either strap may be threaded beneath the body and be attached to the bar which it detachably engages without the operator touching said body 4. A body lifter comprising a pair of converging bars of a length substantially equal to the length of a full grown average human being, and adapted to be placed alongside of a recumbent body so that the body will rest on said bars, handles arranged at the ends of saidbars, and spaced cross straps connecting said bars, the space defined by said bars and said straps being constantly open to permit the body to readily'sink downwardly against the bars when the latter are lifted. 5. A body lifter comprising a pair of bars of a length substantially equal to the length of a full rown average human being, and adapted to be placed alongside of a recumbent body so that the body will rest on said bars, handles arranged at the ends of said bars, and spaced cross straps connecting said bars, the space defined by said bars and said straps being constantly open to permit the body to readily sink downwardly against the bars when the latter are lifted, each of said bars having a straight intermediate portion and offset end portions.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

MONT E. OVERSTREET. 

